The invention relates to fluid refilling and dispensing systems.
In many households or offices, fluid dispensing systems such as water coolers have become ubiquitous. Their popularity may be attributed in part to consumers' realization that various chemical products added by utilities to the drinking water supply to prevent bacteria growth may actually have adverse effects on the consumer's well-being. Additionally, certain types of additives such as those containing chlorine may provide objectionable taste and color to the water. Hence, health-conscious consumers have enthusiastically adopted water coolers.
Drinking water is usually available from a number of suppliers in bottles which are designed to be received by dispensers housed in a cabinet. The cabinet typically provides a support fixture for receiving the bottle in an inverted position so that water may be fed by gravity to an internal reservoir. The drinking water is then dispensed through a manually operated tap or spigot which is connected to the reservoir. When water has been completely dispensed from the bottle, the empty bottle is removed and replaced with a full bottle of water, which is relatively heavy. The bottle replacement process is typically accomplished by lifting the full bottle, inverting the full bottle, positioning the inverted full bottle on top of the support fixture, and carefully guiding the inverted full bottle so that its mouth is aligned with a receptacle connected to the internal reservoir.
Although convenient and healthy to use, one problem with existing water coolers is that they require a significant amount of physical exertion to lift, flip and properly guide the mouth of the full bottle into the reservoir receptacle. Not everyone can physically perform this task. The bottle replacement process can be particularly difficult for children or persons with limited strength. Moreover, the process of rapidly inverting the water bottle and positioning the neck of the bottle into the reservoir receptacle may expose the reservoir to contamination and expose the user to water spillage.